I thought my Aerostar seats were comfortable, but I didn't like the fact that you couldn't get the seat back more upright. I like to drive with my head against the headrest - been rear-ended too many times plus I try to maintain decent posture. If I adjusted the seat position to suit my legs, then my upper body was too far back to be comfortable when reaching the steering wheel. If I adjusted the seat so my arms were a comfortable distance from the steering wheel, my legs were cramped.

I swapped the front seats in my Aerostar with those from a Ranger and found that I could get the Ranger seats more upright. So, that got me thinking about swapping the reclining mechanism. Sure enough, you can remove the reclining mechanism from the Aerostar and install one from the Ranger. Or, in my case, I used the mechanism from the front seats of a '96 Explorer. You will have to remove the seat back from the pedestal, unclip the plastic clips that hold the upholstery in place and then slide the upholstery up a little bit to access the upper most bolt.

One other benefit is that the seat will now fold forward. So, the front Aerostar seat that I put in the second row on a captain's chair base can be folded forward and then moved farther out of the way for the person getting to the rear bench.

Just thought I'd pass the info along.

Now, if I could only find a relatively easy way to put some headrests on the rear bench...

 

when I owned a 1979 Saab 900, the front seat Backs were very similar to the Aerostar seat backs in that they had an opening at the top, but in the Saab you could insert a headreast cushion which protruded forward about 3 inches. These cushions or headrest pads were an optional accessory.

the picture below shows the front seats without and with the removable headrests in place. Sorry, those were the best pictures I could find.

 

so ranger seats bolt right in?

 

i never tried Ranger seats. But I am already trying to invent headrests for my Aerostar front seats. The Push-them-in-the-hole kind, using some kind of foam.

 

Thanks for sharing Mike; it's always good to find options for when I want to replace my seats with something better. For some reason, I always find myself sliding lower in my seats after about half an hour of driving, and I have to push myself back up to the proper driving position. I think it has to do with the angle of the bottom cushion; on the Aerostar, it is a lot flatter than in my Mustang, which actually slopes up and forward, preventing the downward slide.

Just wondering, do those seats that fold forward use some kind of locking mechanism to keep the backs in place when you don't want them to fold?

 

Not exactly, but nearly so. I got my Ranger seats from a '97. The seat pedestal will have all the holes you need, but they are not all tapped. You will have to tap some holes. Also, for some reason, two holes on the driver seat didn't quite line up, so I had to slot the holes in the seat base that is bolted to the floor. The passenger side seat didn't need this done.

Seats from other models will also fit - Explorers, Mustangs, Escorts, etc. - but you might need to tap holes. I don't know exact years. Seats from Expeditions look too big, but I haven't tried them to know for sure. I just do a trial fit at the junkyard before I buy them.

 

The mechanism is nearly the same. You get the same kind of adjustment on the back from the full-on La-Z-Boy position to the full upright. Past full upright, then you can fold it farther forward, but the seat back doesn't lock in that position. If you push the seat back backwards, it will rotate until the first locking position, which is pretty much upright.

Here's a picture: recline_mech_zps5onrz7c3.jpg | Photobucket

The mechanism on the left is from the Explorer. It lets you rotate the seat back forward and also gives you a more upright seating position. The one on the right is from the Aerostar. They are from opposite sides and are both upside down - what's on top would bolt to the seat pedestal. The one on the left (in the picture) is from the right and the one on the right is from the left (reminds me of a Johnny Cash song). Notice that the Explorer mechanism just has a longer slot that lets the seat back rotate forward.